The OIG alleged that CMC paid remuneration to three orthopedists in the form of improper payments for on-call coverage, malpractice insurance, travel reimbursement, and overpayments under an income guarantee agreement.

The $6.9 billion in expected recoveries consists of $923.8 million in audit receivables and $6 billion in investigative receivables. In addition, OIG reported $8.5 billion in estimated savings resulting from legislative, regulatory, or administrative actions that were supported by our recommendations. Such savings generally reflect third-party estimates (such as those by the Congressional Budget Office) of funds made available for better use through reductions in Federal spending.

Freeman Health System, a healthcare provider and hospital system located in Joplin, Mo., has agreed to pay $9,316,139 to resolve allegations that it violated the Stark Law and the False Claims Act by knowingly providing incentive pay to physicians in a manner that violated federal law, the Justice Department announced today. The Stark Law forbids a hospital from billing Medicare for certain services referred by physicians that have a financial relationship with the hospital. A prohibited financial relationship includes an agreement between a hospital and a physician to compensate a physician based on the volume of the physician’s referrals or the revenue realized through those referrals. Freeman disclosed to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri that a number of its physicians were eligible for incentive compensation that may have taken into account the value and volume of their referrals. Based on its investigation of Freeman’s disclosures, the United States alleged that Freeman knowingly...

Orthofix International NV, has agreed to pay the United States $30 million to settle allegations that an Orthofix subsidiary, Blackstone Medical Inc., paid illegal kickbacks to physicians in order to induce use of the company’s products, the Justice Department announced today. Orthofix, which manufactures spinal implants and other spinal surgery products, is a publicly traded company headquartered in Curacao.The civil settlement resolves allegations that Blackstone paid kickbacks to spinal surgeons. These alleged kickbacks took a number of forms, including sham consulting agreements, sham royalty arrangements, sham research grants, travel and entertainment. “Kickbacks to physicians are incompatible with a properly functioning health care system,” said Stuart F. Delery, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Department’s Civil Division. “They can corrupt physicians’ medical judgment and cause misallocation of vital health care resources. Today’s settlement reflects the progress we are making in the...